Chocolate-Studded Panettone Recipe
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Today, I’m sharing another favorite recipe from Bread Toast Crumbs: Chocolate-Studded Panettone. Scented with vanilla, loaded with dark chocolate, this sweet bread is a nice one to have on hand this time of year for holiday brunches or teas, and it makes a great gift.
Panettone classically is baked in large paper molds (as pictured above) but if you can’t find them, you can fashion your own (see recipe notes) or simply divide the dough in half and bake it as the original recipe in two 1-qt Pyrex bowls.
Over the weekend, inspired by a photo in the King Arthur Flour catalog, I made mini panettone and sprinkled the just-baked, butter-brushed domes with pearl sugar. Wrapped with baker’s twine, the festive little loaves assured me that no matter how behind in holiday-gift buying I may be, a homemade chocolate-studded parcel can always come to the rescue.
Chocolate-Studded Panettone
From Bread Toast Crumbs
Around the holidays, it’s nearly impossible to walk by an Italian market and not feel lured by the loaves of panettone bundled in cellophane and tied with bows, like presents begging for a home. It’s almost a cross between a cake and a bread, and while it couldn’t be more beautiful, I’ve never loved the traditional flavorings: citrusy, floral extracts and candied fruit. But when these seasonings are replaced with vanilla and chunks of chocolate, which suspend in the buttery crumb, well, this is a panettone I can get behind: a treat freshly baked, and even better one day later, toasted, spread with butter, and sprinkled with sea salt.
PS: Stuffing Two Ways from Bread Toast Crumbs
If you make a little mark on the side of the paper mold, it will help you know when the dough has doubled and is therefore ready to be baked: 
Chocolate-Studded Panettone Recipe
- Total Time: 4 hours
- Yield: 1 large or 6 mini
Description
From Bread Toast Crumbs
Yield= One 1-lb panettone or 6 small panettones
Find Panettone molds online or in specialty stores:
Ingredients
- 4 cups (512 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- ¼ cup (55 g) sugar
- 2½ teaspoons instant yeast
- 1½ cups 2 percent or whole milk
- ½ cup boiling water
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Softened unsalted butter, for greasing
- 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, 60% to 70% cacao, coarsely chopped into ¼– to ½-inch pieces
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, sugar, and instant yeast. In a medium bowl, combine the milk, water, 4 tablespoons melted butter, and vanilla. Stir to combine, then add to the flour. Using a rubber spatula, mix until the liquid is absorbed and the ingredients form a sticky dough ball. Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel or plastic wrap and set aside in a warm spot to rise for 1½ to 2 hours, until the dough has doubled in bulk.
- Set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat it to 375°F. Grease a panettone mold (see Note) with the softened butter—be generous. Sprinkle the chocolate pieces over the surface of the dough. Using two forks, deflate the dough by releasing it from the sides of the bowl and pulling it toward the center. Rotate the bowl quarter turns as you deflate, turning the mass into a rough ball. Keep turning the dough in this manner until the chocolate is incorporated.
- Use your two forks to transfer the dough to the prepared mold. If the dough is too wet to transfer with forks, lightly grease your hands with butter or oil, then transfer it to the mold. Do not cover the mold. Let the dough rise on the countertop near the oven (or another warm, draft-free spot) for 20 to 25 minutes, until the dough has doubled in bulk—it may not crown the rim, but it will come close.
- Set the mold on a sheet pan and transfer it to the oven. Bake the mold for 40 to 45 minutes, or until uniformly brown. Remove the pan and mold from the oven and set the mold onto a cooling rack. Brush the top with the remaining tablespoon melted butter. Let the panettone cool for at least 1 hour before cutting it.
Notes
- Note: Find panettone molds in specialty stores and online, or make your own: Use a 6- to 7-inch round baking dish. Stand a piece of parchment paper vertically along the inside edge so that it extends past the height of the pan at least 5 inches. Cut as needed and use a stapler to secure multiple sheets as necessary. Nonstick cooking spray will be easier to use than softened butter. Or, if you don’t feel like making your own mold, you can also divide the dough in half and bake it in two 1-quart Pyrex bowls.
- If you’re making mini panettones, divide the dough into 6 portions.
- If you’d like to use pearl sugar, remove the loaves from the oven 5 minutes before they finish baking, brush with butter, sprinkle with sugar, and return to the oven for 5 minutes more.
- Prep Time: 3 hours 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: Bread
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
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106 Comments on “Chocolate-Studded Panettone Recipe”
Hi, can i use self raising flour in this recipe? How much, would it be the same as recipe 512g? Also can i use stork or does it have to be unsalted butter?
Thank you xx
Hi Jane! Are you trying to use up self raising flour you have on hand? Normally I wouldn’t suggest doing so, but if you have it, it probably will work. You’ll still need to use the yeast. I’m not sure what stork is? You can use either salted or unsalted butter here.
My cookbook club is doing Bread, Toast, Crumbs this month & I’m so excited to make this!
However, the only panettone molds I can find near me are 5.25″. Can I use this recipe with that size mold? What adjustments, if any, would I need to make?
So fun to hear this, Kallan! And yes, absolutely, you can use the smaller loaves. You can see in the photos in the post, I use two different sizes. The key is just to not over-fill the molds. So with yours, fill them 3/4 full. If you have any extra dough you can bake it off in a ramekin or other small baking dish.
What brand of chocolate do you use? Chips or whole bar chopped?
Hi Alan! I love Scharffenberger or Guittard, but any good chocolate will do. I use bars, and I chop up the chocolate.
Hi Alexandra. These look amazing and I would love to bake them. Can these be frozen? How would you recommend doing so?
Hi Angela! Apologies for the delay here. Yes, you can freezer them. Let them cool completely. Then transfer to very large ziplock bags — I would use 2-gallon sized bags. Seal the bags, pressing out as much air as possible; then freeze for up to 3 months.
Thank you so much for your guidance. Can wait to try this recipe!
Ok while this isn’t as fluffy and tender as an Italian panettone, it’s a lovely lightly sweet loaf and soooooo easy to make! We mixed and baked it last night while we watched tv after dinner, and had it for breakfast once it cooled this morning. Definitely a keeper!
So nice to hear this, Annike! Thanks so much for writing and sharing your notes. Such a fun night (and morning!) 🙂
Is it 375° fan?
Hi Ali! Is this a traditional Pannetone recipe? I haven’t tried making it yet but plan to soon. Asking our of curiosity and because i’d love to learn the authentically Italian method. I have considered purchasing a Pannetone from Roy as i’ve heard it’s out of this world. I’ve also been interested in taking a Pannetone-baking course (have you taken one?) just to learn and improve my skills. Thanks in advance!
Hi Lara! This is definitely not authentic … I’m not exactly sure what qualifies as authentic, but I think a lot of more traditional recipes have those candied bits of citron, the flavor of which I’ve never loved. Because I find the flavor of the candied citron artificial tasting and a little overpowering, I opt for fresh zest instead. Wish I could point you to a source… maybe King Arthur Flour?
What kind of sugar do you use in the recipe? X
Hi! Granulated sugar.
Is it 375° fan?
Hi Alexandra. Do you think this recipe would work in a 10″ loaf tin? If so, would the baking temperature and time be the same?
I do! Same time and temperature 🙂
I am assuming this works with regular yeast as well, just takes longer to rise?
Hi! Apologies for the delay here… yes, regular yeast will work. Just activate it first: sprinkle it over the lukewarm water. The rising time should be roughly the same.
I am trying this recipe in 2023. I can’t get it past mixing the ingredients because of the high volume of liquid – 2 cups total in the recipe. This is more like cake batter. Is 1.5 cups milk + 0.5 cups water + 4 tbsp butter correct?
It is correct! It’s a very wet, sticky dough. After the first rise, you may find it’s less sticky, but regardless, you won’t be handling it with your hands — you’ll be using forks to deflate and divide the dough.